Phase 2 Lab Report Essay

Purpose

The purpose of this lab is to explain what would happen if a species were split into two groups by an earthquake, creating a physical barrier between the two groups. Showing how the formation of a new species can evolve.

Introduction

Speciation is when a species is created from the splitting of a species. In other words if a group of a certain species is separated say by an earthquake, the group that remains in the geographical area will stay the same, but the group that has been separated out to another area will begin to adapt to that area and over many years develop certain changes causing it to be a new species. The demands of a different environment or the characteristics of the members of the new group will differentiate the new species from their ancestors. (National Geographic,2015) Living and non-living conditions will cause different selective and adaptive pressures to occur between the now divided groups and they will evolve differently. (M.U.S.E., 2010)

Hypothesis/Predicted Outcome

A species being separated into two, one being placed in an entirely different geographical area in time will adapt to the new area taking on new characteristics becoming a new species

Methods

M.U.S.E, National Geographic is where this research was done. Learning from the National Geographic there are four different types of speciation. All have to do with separation or isolation of one group from the other. Realizing that the time for a new species to evolve could be a process over millions of years, like the example of the Galapagos finches, being isolate from one another by ocean. Over millions of years, each species of finch has developed a unique beak. (National Geographic, 2015)

Results/Outcome

If a species is separated by any means causing a barrier between them they cannot mate with each other causing reproductive isolation, because of the reproductive isolation, natural selection will occur and the species will begin to change. Noting this can take thousand or maybe millions of years. Looking up the example of the polar bear recent studies suggest that polar bears split from a common brown bears 350,000 – 6 million years ago, undergoing a series of evolutionary changes in order to survive in the Arctic. (Polar Bears International, 2015)

Discussion/Analysis

Now understanding the evolution theory, and I can see what happens when a species become divided. Understanding that a species would need to adapt to its surroundings in order to survive, therefore creating a totally new species from the one it was separated from. Like the Finch species, beaks for different types of food on different islands. Even the Polar bear coming from the lineage of the brown bear but needing to survive the Artic, taking on totally different characteristics than the brown bear, from the food he eats to the color of his fur and physical change. Simply put a species would have to recreate itself in order to survive or become extinct.